The maker of Nutella is fighting back against claims that a key ingredient in the hazelnut and chocolate spread may cause cancer.

Italian food giant Ferrero recently launched an advertising campaign in Italy that assures consumers that palm oil used in Nutella is safe to eat, Reuters reported.

"Making Nutella without palm oil would produce an inferior substitute for the real product, it would be a step backward," Ferrero's purchasing manager Vincenzo Tapella told Reuters.

The company’s campaign in support of palm oil, comes amid growing pressure from European officials to list the edible oil as potentially carcinogenic.

In May, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) warned that contaminants in palm oil raise potential health concerns across the board. The EFSA panel found that the major cancer concern is over glycidyl fatty acid esters or GE, which form during food processing, or when palm oil is refined at temperatures over 393 Fahrenheit.